An essential resource?completely revised and updated for the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of Israel

In print for forty years , The Israel-Arab Reader is a thorough and up-to-date guide to the continuing crisis in the Middle East. It covers the full spectrum of the Israel-Arab conflict?including a new chapter recounting the Gaza withdrawal, the Hamas election victory, and the Lebanon-Israel War. Featuring a new introduction that provides an overview of the past 115 years of conflict, and arranged chronologically and without bias, this comprehensive reference includes speeches, letters, articles, timelines, and reports dealing with all the major interests in the area.

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Product Description

About the Author

Walter Laqueur, a professor of history and an expert commentator on international affairs, has written and edited more than twenty-five books.Barry Rubin is deputy director of the BESA Center for Strategic Studies and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs. He has written many books on Middle East politics.

First Sentence
It is unusual for a book on contemporary politics to go through seven editions and dozens of printings, and to sell tens of thousands of copies over forty years, but such is the case with The Israel-Arab Reader.&nbspRead the first page

Most helpful customer reviews

I will not spend a lot of time writing about how valuable a reference this is - the other reviewers on this site have already more than done it justice. Aside from the relative lack of material on early Zionism (also pointed out by one of the other reviewers), this book has most if not all of the relevant documents. I have only one major criticism (the reason I gave the book four stars instead of 5): the almost complete lack of information about the original sources. Apart from a one-liner preceding each document, no information is given regarding 1) the citation of the original work, including page numbers, where appropriate; 2) the language in which the original work was written; 3) if the work was not written in English, credit for the translation, the date thereof, etc. While these may not be of interest to the casual reader, to anyone doing research in the field, if only for a college paper, these details are critical. Furthermore, in an area as controversial as the Arab-Israeli conflict, the ability to trace documents back to the original and verify translations is everything.

I write in relation to the sixth revised and updated version of this work. My purchase was based upon the recommendations of others here and I was certainly not disappointed with my acquisition of this book.It really is a priceless reference and guide to the way in which the Middle East has taken shape and how the whole Arab-Israeli issue has developed since it's inception. Indeed, references are quoted with effect from 1882 through until the present day.We are treated to a seemingly endless accurate list of letters, speeches, reports and articles from a considerable cross section of sources, both in the international arena and in the region itself. This latest version even contains sections on the Camp David negotiations and their subsequent failure in 2000/2001.One is able to see from the direct quotes of the parties concerned, exactly what was said, and moreover in it's true context, making this an indisputably essential asset to understanding the conflicts and 'peace-making' in the region. This level of understanding is made accessible not only to the Camp David talks but also to virtually every other episode of significance relative to this ongoing issue throughout the many decades.A highly recommended read.

Anyone who wants a truly honest vision of the Arab-Israeli conflict should consider this excellent 580-page Reader, last updated in 2001. It is divided into four sections each of which contains important writings from both sides (sometimes three or more) of the question and goes back more than a century.The first, for example, runs from 1882 through the end of the British Mandate and includes 69 pages of writings, from the Bilu Group Manifesto, excerpts of Theodore Herzl's Jewish State and a 1905 French journal piece by Negib Azouri to the 1915 letter of Sir Henry McMahon to Hussein the Sherif of Mecca, the Peel Commission report, the US Special Committee on Palestine and the Partition Plan of the UN General Assembly.The Third section runs from the Camp David Accords to Madrid, including statements from various commissions, the Arab League Jordanian Crown Prince Al-Hassan Bin Talal, and Lebanon and Israel's 1983 truce agreement. Also included is the Hamas charter, the Palestine National Council political resolution and declaration of independence of 1988 and Iraqi speech of Saddam Hussein as well as a 1991 U.S. letter of assurance to the Palestinians.The Israel-Arab Reader's last section includes many Arab documents on Oslo and runs through 2001 statements by the Palestinian negotiating team and former President Bill Clinton.It is hard to argue against reading important original documents, and forming your own opinion. Once you do, you will see many of the factors that have shaped the current Middle East as well as international and U.S. policy. Alyssa A. Lappen

From the Manifesto of the Bilu (1882) and Theodore Herzl's "Der Judenstaat" (The Jewish State) published in 1896, to Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yassir Arafat speeches accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1994, this book contains an unique collection of documents that will provide the reader with a better understanding of the Middle East and the conflict between Arabs and Israelis. This last, and fifth, edition, published in 1995 adds new documents covering the most significant events of the 1990-1994 period, including the famous Palestinian-Israeli Declaration of Principles signed in the White House in September of 1993, and although the reader will not find in this edition, any document of later events, this book, already a classic, maintains its place as a documentary history of the Arab-Israeli conflict that is indispensable to understand current Middle East affairs. As they have done with previous editions, historians and Middle East specialist Walter Laqueur and Barry Rubin present a selection of key documents that reflect the viewpoints of all involved parties in this dramatic history. A great reference book.

This is undoubtedly a great book yet I wanted to share a couple of comments.

The style of the book is not what I expected, as there is minimal narration. This is a collection of primary documents that recounts the historical events from various perspectives, all of which I found to be of utmost relevance and appropriate (e.g. head's of states, organization, committees, UN documents, etc.). I think by doing this the editors/authors attempted to avoid bias. Of course by choosing what documents were to be included in the book represents some degree of biasness - however this is acknowledged (as in my opinion sufficiently justified) by the authors in the preface.

Another important thing: I would not recommend this book ON ITS OWN for those who are looking for an introduction to the Palestinian-Israel history. There are many important events which are virtually unmentioned (i.e. there are no documents referring to them), such as certain wars and assassinations.